High-capacity spring-gear.



G. 0. LEWIS.

HIGH CAPAClTY SPRlNG GEAR.

APPLICATION ElLED APR. 13, 1916.

Patented Dec. 24, 1918.

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W1 TNESSES:

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T ATTORNEY 6. Q. LEWIS.

HIGH CAPACITY SPRING GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 13. I916.

L fi fia Patented Dec. 24, 1918.

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INVEN TOR.

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GHAZY, NEW YORK.

HIGH-CAPACITY SPRING-GEAR.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Dec. at, was.

Application filed April 13, 1916. Serial No. 90,848.

To all whom it. may concern.

Be it known that I, Goonmon Q. Lnwrs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wheaton, in the county of Dupage and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in 'Hi h-Capacity Spring-Gears, of which the fol owing is a full, clear concise, and exact descrlpt'ion, reference eing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in hi h capacity spring gears.

he object of the invention is to provide a spring gear for railway draft riggings of high capacity, eflicient operation, simple arrangement, andfew parts whlch may be cheaply manufactured. The invention furthermore, consists in the improvements in the parts and devices and in the novel combinations of the parts and devices herein shown, described and claimed.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a vertlcal, longitudinal, sectional view of a draft rigging, showmg my improvements in connection therewith. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the draft gear illustrated in Fig. 1 and taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3. Fig 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the yoke-acting member.

, Referring to said drawing, 10--10, denote the center or draft sills, the same having secured to their inner faces stop castmgs A-A. Each of said stop castings A is provided with a pair of upper and lower rear shoulders 11, a pair of upper and lower front shoulders 12, a pair of upper and lower front intermediate shoulders 13, a pair of upper and lower rear intermediate shoulders 14, and corresponding pairs of upper and lower limiting stop shoulders 15, 16, 17 and 18. The castings are provided with suitable counter sinks to receive the rivets by which they are attached to the respective sills. Vertically extending webs 19, 20 and 21 are also provided between the pairs of front. limiting stops, intermediate mam stops, and rear limiting stops, respectively.

The gear proper comprlses tandem arranged, vertical, twin springs 22 23, 24 and 25, each spring preferably conslsting of an spectively. The

' ranged, and the parts may bled and disassembled whenever desired. It-

outer heavy coil and an inner nested lighter coil. Ei ht followers are rovided, four upper f0 lowers 26-26 and our lower followers 27-27, which cooperate with their respective stops, as will be understood.

The gear is operatively connected to the draw-bar-28 by means of a yoke designated generally by the reference B. The yoke B is preferably in the form of a casting, having a box-like hood or head 29 at its forward end, side walls of said hood being extended as indicated at 30 and slotted as at 31 to receive the coupler key 32. The yoke B also has a horizontal single arm 33 from the upper and lower sides of which extend hollow box like projections or abutments 34 and 35 at the center thereof. At its rear end, the yoke is provided with vertical, upwardly and downwardl extending flanges or abutments 36 and 3 which cooperate with the upper and lower rear followers. As will be understood, the members 34 and 35 form the thimble of the tandem yoke and cooperate with the intermediatefollowers of the gear, the front followers of the gear abutting the rear wall 38 of the hood. 1 The cross-section of the arm 33 is most clearly shown in Fig. 3 and'is provided on its upper face with a concave surface 39, and on its lower face with a similar concave surface 40, said surfaces 39 and 40 forming seats for the upper and lower springs remeans of saddle plates 4141, detachably bolted -to the lower flanges of the center sills 10.

In draft, it is apparent that the yoke B will move forwardly with the draw bar, and thereby move the rear followers and rear intermediate followers forwardly. In buff, the draw-bar will force the yoke B rearwardly, which in turn will force the front followers and rear intermediate followers rearwardly, the compression of the springs and movement of the yoke being .limited by the limiting stops, as will be understood.

From the preceding description it will be seen that the gear which I have provided is of unusually high capacity, is compactly arwill also beseen that the lower sets of springs parts are supported by be readily assem-.

can be removed without disturbing the draw bar and yoke connection, by merely takingoff the tie plates 41, thereby minimizing the weight of the parts which have to be handled at any one time.

I claim:

1. In a spring draft gear, the combination with tandem twin arranged springs and cooperable followers, of means for operatively connecting said springs andfollowers with a draw-bar, some of said springs being removable from below without disturbing the yoke and draw bar connection, said means including a centrally disposed horizontal column member, said member having integral abutments at each end and also at the center for engagement with the followers and arranged to actuate the gear in tandem.

2. As an article of manufacture, a.yoke for draft rigging having a single horizontal arm with integral abutments extending from opposite sides thereof, at both ends, and also at the center, the horizontal arm being adapted to extend in the center line of the draft rigging.

3. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with stop castings each provided with an upper and a lower set of tandem arranged stops, 'of an upper set of tandem arranged springs and followers cooperable with the upper set of stops on the castings, and a lower set of tandem arranged springs and followers'cooperable with the lower sets of stops on said castings. I

4. In a draft rigging for railway cars, the combination with stop castings, each provided with sets of tandem arranged shoulders, of an upper set of tandem arranged springs and followers, a lower set of tandem set being disposed behind the other in tandem formation, of -an independent follower cooper-able with each end of each spring,

stop castings having shoulders cooperable' with said followers, and means for operatively connecting said springs and followers with a draw bar, each of the lower springs and associated followers being independently removable from below and without disturbing the other elements of the gear.

6. In a draft rigging, the combination with stop members having upper and lower sets of stops, of a set of vertical twin arranged springs, independent sets of followers for each of said springs and cooperable with said upper and lower sets of stops, a yoke adapted to operatively connect said springs and followers with a draw bar, said yoke having a horizontally and centrally disposed arm extending between the upper and lower sets of followers, means for supporting the lower spring and followers, said yoke being supported by said lower set of spring and followers and the yoke in turn supporting the upper set of spring and followers.

In witness that I claim the foregoing-I have hereunto subscribed my name this 22nd day of March, 1916. 1

GOODRIOH Q. LEWIS. 

